One of the most sought-after pitchers in baseball won't be hitting the open market after all.
Four days before teams start bidding on free agents from other teams, the Chicago White Sox announced Tuesday that they have signed Jake Peavy to a two-year, $29-million contract extension.
The deal replaces what would have been a $22 million club option for 2013; the White Sox instead will pay him the $4 million buyout on the preexisting option and have him for two seasons under the new contract.
Peavy, 31, is coming off a bounce-back season in which he went 11-12 with a 3.37 ERA in 32 starts. He ranked third in the American League with 23 quality starts. Finally healthy after suffering a detached latissimus dorsi muscle behind his right shoulder in 2010, Peavy was one of the biggest reasons the White Sox were surprising contenders in the AL Central.
"I'm really excited to come back to Chicago and build on what we did last year," Peavy said in a statement issued by the team. "I made no...

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